SCOTUS Blocks Gerrymandered Map in Attempt to Resolve Missouri Election Chaos
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a federal judge’s order requiring Missouri to use a gerrymandered congressional map in November, putting the state back on course to conduct the election using districts drawn in 2022.
In a one-page order, the court granted an emergency request from a political action committee called People Not Politicians and its executive director, Richard von Glahn, to stay a temporary restraining order issued Tuesday by Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark in St. Louis.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who handles emergency matters from Missouri, referred the request to the full court. The unsigned order did not disclose the vote or explain the court’s reasoning, and no justice publicly dissented.
In a hearing before the state Supreme Court Thursday morning, an attorney representing Secretary of State Denny Hoskins said unless some other federal court says otherwise, the intent is to conduct the November election using the 2022 map.
Thursday’s ruling is the latest turn in a legal fight that has bounced between the Missouri Supreme Court, a federal district judge, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court in the span of a week.
Missouri Supreme Court Blocks GOP Maps, Puts Gerrymandering Issue to Voters
Its immediate effect is to revive a unanimous Missouri Supreme Court ruling from Sept. 3 that found the gerrymandered 2025 congressional map never took effect because it was suspended by a valid referendum petition.
The state court ordered Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to place the referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot as Proposition A and conduct this year’s congressional........
